November 3, 2016



Fall has always been a major source of inspiration for me.  Maybe it's the crisp air, the smell of burning leaves, or all the vibrant colors.  More likely it's all of the above, but I find myself writing a lot more and spending as much time as possible outdoors by a crackling fire. It's truly my favorite time of the year.  It's too bad this precious window of time lasts only a couple of weeks before the frost and snowflakes begin to appear.  Actually, around here it's not terribly uncommon to have already seen a light dusting.  Pretty soon we'll be staring out the windows at bare branches trying to figure out if the day's task is worth the suffering and risk of frostbite that leaving the house poses. November is also a time for giving thanks.  I am so thankful for my Indiana Voice Journal family, our contributors, and all our loyal readers each month.  You all are the reason we do what we do. We get some pretty wonderful  literary submissions and artwork.  Much like the amazing Autumn leaves- they're varied, unique, and full of vibrancy! This month is no less amazing (are we biased?!)  We have a great selection of poetry, fiction, artwork, and creative non-fiction. Lots of new faces as well!  Our featured artist is Bert Happel who not only has a nice feature in the issue, but his work also graces our cover.  Special thanks to Sandeep Kumar Mishra for the use of his artwork as well. Get outside and enjoy the crisp, fall air while it lasts, but I hope you’ll give the November issue a perusal.  I might mention also, that nothing feels better than a positive comment! Show your thanks by supporting our authors and artists with your kind words of encouragement.~Jennifer Criss, Art Editor


POETRY

A Poem by Andrew Hubbard: "Simple Pleasures"
A Poem by Milton Montague: "home in Indy-an-a"
A Poem by Vartika Srivastava: "Those Eyes are Watching You!"
Three Poems by Claudine Nash: "Bark Callus," "Warm Your One Sure Purpose," and "All Doors Day"
Haiku by Angel Edwards: "Day"
Four Poems by Blanca Alicia Garza: "Holding On," "Cherished Dreams," "Illuminated Reflections," and "The Forgotten"
Two Poems by Madu Chisom Kingdavid: "Without You (For a Beloved)" and "She Whispered Something (To an Egyptian Lady)"
Three Poems by Mark Danowsky: "Fray," "Needful," and "Seams"
Three poems by Steve Klepetar: "Summer's End, Traveling West," "The White Hour," and "Between the Lines"
Two Poems by Sanjeev Sethi: "Birthing" and "Tetrads"
A Poem by Robert Nisbet: "Stand in the Light, John"
Four Poems by Colin Dodds: "Rogues' Gallery," "The Survivor's Half-Meant Lament," "Unreliable Testimony," and "Peculiar Mirrors"
Seven Poems by Goirick Brahmachari: "Now that Winter," "An Ektara," "Love in 1970," "This Anger, this Wrath," "Numb," "The Other Side of the Hill," and "Nervous February."
Three Poems by G. Louis Heath: "A Shrill Cry on the Wind," " Love of Nothing," and "Lyrics Larder"
A Poem by Donna Arthur Downs: "Autumn Moments"
Three poems by Donal Mahoney: "Gardening in Autumn," "Seasons of the Year," and "Breakfast with Ted"
Two Poems by Richard Manly Heiman : "Someday We’ll Incarnate You in Porcelain" and "Family Album"
Three Poems by Joan McNerney: "Twelve Steps to Winter," "Winter Watch," and "Woods"


VISUAL ART

Photography feature by Bert Happel


CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAY

CNF/Essay by Donal Mahoney: "Long Before ISIS"
CNF/Essay by Frank Morelli: "An Open Letter To People Rocking Out in Cars"
CNF/Essay by Michael Marrotti: "Check Out My Blog: The Fallacy Of Contemporary Poetry"


FICTION

Fiction by Daniel Adler: "Confluence"
Fiction by N.D. Coley: "The Pumpkin Hatch"
Flash Fiction by A.S. Coomer: "The Yard Sale"
Flash Fiction by Rosanne Trost: "Monster"
Fiction by Harlan Yarbrough: "The Big Bang Theory"
Fiction by Richard Krause: "Hamid, the Water Carrier"
Fiction by Andra Land: "Field of Lavender"
Fiction by Pat Tyrer: "Mrs. Bash's Predictions"
Fiction by Andrea Cox Christen: "Keepers of the Lot"
Fiction by Adam Matson: "Sertraline Dreams"

Andrew Hubbard recently moved back to Indiana after ten years in Houston, Texas.  He has had five books published, including, most recently, his first book of poetry, "Things That Get You," which was produced by Interactive Press. He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2015.

 Milton Montague, was born in new York in 1924. He survived the Great Depression, school, and World W II, He fell in love, married, raised three wonderful daughters, and retired. He discovered poetry at 86. Now, at 90 plus years, he has 103 poems published in 29 different magazines, including Indiana Voice Journal.

Vartika Srivastava lives in Punjab, India. She is fond of literature and is pursuing her Master of Philosophy in the field of Comparative Literature. Her stories and poems have appeared in many online journals. She is a travel enthusiast and has already lived in almost four different states in India. Her works focus on psychological realism, tracing the inner realities of the character.

Claudine Nash’s collections include her full-length poetry book Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, 2016) and her chapbook The Problem with Loving Ghosts (Finishing Line Press, 2014). She also recently edited the collection In So Many Words: Interviews and Poetry from Today’s Poets (Madness Muse Press, 2016) with Adam Levon Brown. Her poems have won numerous literary prizes and have appeared in such publications as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Cloudbank, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal and Yellow Chair Review. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and is a practicing psychologist. Website: www.claudinenashpoetry.com.

 Angel Edwards, a member of SOCAN, BMI and VMA owns a small music publishing company. A dozen of her songs are published by Saddlestone Publishing. She currently performs as a solo acoustic electric singer songwriter guitarist. Her poems have been published in numerous magazines and journals. Angel is preparing her first book of poetry and short stories and has one completed fantasy novella. She is seeking a publisher for her works. http://www.reverbnation.com/angeledwards


Blanca Alicia Garza is from Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a nature and animal lover who enjoys spending time writing. Her poems have been been published in the Poetry Anthology, "Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze," available at Amazon.com. Her poems can also be found at The Poet Community, Whispers in the Wind,  Winamop Journal, Indiana Voice Journal, Tuck Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Birdsong Anthology 2016, Vol 1.

Madu Chisom Kingdavid is a Nigerian Poet and Writer. His works have been published in Expound, Kalahari Review, Africawriter, Pulse.ng, Penmind Media and Creativity, Coalng, afrikrayons, and elsewhere. He won the 2013 edition of the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize.

Mark Danowsky’s poetry has appeared in About Place, Allegro, Beechwood Review, The Broadkill Review, Cordite, Elohi Gadugi, Grey Sparrow, and elsewhere. His mini-chapbook, NIGHTFALLEN, was published by Origami Poems Project in 2016. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Mark currently resides in North-Central West Virginia. He works for a private detective agency and is Managing Editor for the Schuylkill Valley Journal.

Steve Klepetar’s work has appeared widely. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Recent collections include My Son Writes a Report on the Warsaw Ghetto and The Li Bo Poems, both from Flutter Press, and Family Reunion, forthcoming from Big Table Publishing.

Sanjeev Sethi is the author of three well-received books of poetry. His most recent collection is This Summer and That Summer (Bloomsbury, 2015). His poems are in venues around the world: Off the Coast, Drunk Monkeys, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, The Beatnik Cowboy, and elsewhere. He lives in Mumbai, India.

Robert Nisbet is a Welsh poet who has been published widely in Great Britain and in the USA in  the San Pedro River Review, Clementine Unbound, Red River Review, Constellations and elsewhere. He has one chapbook, Merlin’s Lane (Prolebooks, 2011).

Colin Dodds is the author of  three books, Another Broken Wizard, WINDFALL and The Last Bad Job.  His writing has appeared in more than two hundred publications, and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net Anthology.  Colin’s book-length poem That Happy Captive was a finalist for the Trio House Press Louise Bogan Award as well as the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award in 2015. His his screenplay, Refreshment, was named a semi-finalist in the 2010 American Zoetrope Contest. Colin lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughter. See more of his work at thecolindodds.com.

Goirick Brahmachari lives in Delhi, India, He hails from Silchar, Assam. His first collection of poems ‘For the love of Pork’ have recently been published from Les Editions du Zaporogue, Denmark.

G. Louis Heath, Ph.D., Berkeley, 1969, is Emeritus Professor, Ashford University, Clinton, Iowa. He enjoys reading his poems at open mics. He often hikes along the Mississippi River, stopping to work on a poem he pulls from his back pocket, weather permitting. His books include Leaves Of Maple: An Illinois State University Professor’s Memoir of Seven Summers’ Teaching in Canadian Universities, 1972-1978, Long Dark River Casino, and Redbird Prof: Poems Of A Normal U, 1969-1981. He has published poems in a wide array of journals.

Donna Arthur Downs is an associate professor and co-chair of the Communication department at Taylor University. She has taught various writing, public relations and media courses since 2001 and advises the award-winning student newspaper, The Echo. She is the mother of two faithful sons and the grandmother of two remarkable grandchildren. Downs graduated with an Ed.D from Ball State University. http://donnadowns.wix.com/donna

Donal Mahoney has worked as an editor for Loyola University Press, The Chicago Sun-Times, and the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Retired now, he keeps busy writing poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Some of his work can be found at http://eyeonlifemag.com/the-poetry-locksmith/donal-mahoney-poet.html#sthash.OSYzpgmQ.dpbs=

Richard Manly Heiman lives on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. He works as a substitute teacher, and writes when the kids are at recess. His work appears in Dappled Things, Bop Dead City, After the Pause, and elsewhere. His URL is www.poetrick.com

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines, such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days. Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work. Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky. She has four Best of the Net nominations.

Dr. Albert (Bert) Happel has been an optometrist in Madison County for the past 33 years.  During that time his primary hobby has been photography.  He is currently serving his second term as President of the Killbuck Photo Guild of Madison County.

I describe myself as an "Advanced Amateur" photographer.  My style is often Photodocumentary but I am drawn to capturing details and images with strong graphical elements.

More of my photos can be seen at the Killbuck Photo Guild gallery at: http://killbuckphoto.com/

Donal Mahoney has worked as an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press and Washington University in St. Louis. He has had work published in various publications, including The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, The Christian Science Monitor, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Commonweal, The National Catholic Reporter and other magazines. Some of his online work can be found at http://eyeonlifemag.com/the-poetry-locksmith/donal-mahoney-poet.html#sthash.OSYzpgmQ.dpbs=

Frank Morelli plucked his roots from the cozy, northern soil and buried them in the sun-baked clays of the Carolinas. His work has appeared in Cobalt, Rind, Philadelphia Stories, Jersey Devil Press, Change Seven, and the East Coast Literary Review.

Michael Marrotti is an author from Pittsburgh, using words instead of violence to mitigate the suffering of life in a callous world of redundancy. His primary goal is to help other people. He considers poetry to be a form of philanthropy. When he's not writing, he's volunteering at the Light Of Life homeless shelter on a weekly basis. If you appreciate the man's work, please check out his book, F.D.A. Approved Poetry, available at Amazon.

Daniel Adler has traveled widely and is writing a novel about rivers. He can be found onTwitter: http://twitter.com/DanielRyanAdler

N.D. Coley currently serves as an instructor of English composition at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Community College of Allegheny County, and the University of Phoenix. He was trained at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg as a literature major (2005), with a minor in writing. He furthered his studies at the University of Pittsburgh, earning an MA in English (2007), with a specialization in literary analysis. In his spare time, he laments the human condition, plays old school video games, reads dark, depressing literature, and tries to keep a smile on his face.

A.S. Coomer is a native Kentuckian serving out a purgatorial existence somewhere in the Midwest. His work has appeared in over thirty publications. He’s got a handful of novels that need good homes. You can find him at www.ascoomer.wordpress.com. He also runs a “record label” for poetry: www.lostlonggoneforgottenrecords.wordpress.com.


Rosanne Trost, RN MPH, is a retired registered nurse living in Houston, Texas. She spent most of her career in oncology nursing research. Since retirement, she has realized her passion for creative writing.

Graduated as a mathematician, Harlan Yarbrough has been a full-time professional entertainer most of his life, including a stint as a regular on the Grand Ole Opry. Repeated attempts to escape the entertainment industry have brought work as a librarian, a physics teacher, and a city planner. Harlan lives in New Zealand but returns to the US to perform.

Richard Krause’s collection of fiction, Studies in Insignificance, was published by Livingston Press and his epigram collection, Optical Biases, was published by Eyecorner Press in Denmark. Propertius Press has accepted his second collection of epigrams, Eye Exams. His writing has more recently appeared in The Long Story, J Journal, Hotel Amerika, Scapegoat Review, Turk’s Head Review, Red Savina Review and Eastlit. Oddville Press and Brilliant Flash Fiction will publish his work this fall. He teaches at Somerset Community College in Kentucky.

Andra Land is a displaced Hoosier freelance writer living near the New Jersey shore. In addition to writing articles for publication on various informational websites, she writes short stories and poetry, and is close to completing her first novel.

Pat Tyrer is a Professor of English at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas where she teaches Creative Writing, Technical Communication, and American Literature. She is a writer and lover of literature who hikes Palo Duro Canyon watching birds when the sun is up and star gazing when it’s not. She writes and publishes poetry, essays, and short fiction.

Andrea Cox Christen grabbed her family, packed nine suitcases and flew to Indonesia to see what life was like in the tropics. In Indonesia she writes, reads and teaches while missing winter, open-roads, and gallon containers of ice cream.


Adam's fiction has appeared internationally in over a dozen magazines including Straylight Literary Magazine, Soundings East, The Bryant Literary Review, The Berkeley Fiction Review, Morpheus Tales, Infernal Ink Magazine, Crack the Spine, with several forthcoming publications. He has had three previous stories published in The Indiana Voice Journal.

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